'Tis the Season....to still be sneezin'!!!

Hi everyone. (if anyone is there)...

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas/ Holidays!!! I've had a rough couple of weeks. And I wanted to let you all know that I'm taking the week off to re-coup, and not just catch up, but to get ahead!

My little 5 yr old has Mono! Not sure how that happened, but it did. She's been sick now for 3 weeks and on top of that - we now have some cold virus traveling through our family. 3 out of the 4 of us - have it - yuck!!! Bust out the tissues - we have issues!

So if you are just now finding my blog - and this is the first post you are reading - please find one of my better posts to read and stay a while! But I am off to rest my head and drink some warm water with Honey and Lemon juice! It's my favorite thing when I get sick. That and my Neti Pot!

I wish you all a VERY WONDERFUL & SAFE New Year! Please follow along with me - the new year will be bringing some really fun tutorials and cool updates about my 2 is Beautiful business!

Thanks so much for checking me out and reading about all the things I love to do and share! And if you wouldn't mind, please vote for your favorite post categories on my blog - up on the right hand side! Thanks! -kg

Edible Wednesday: Creamy Potato Soup

During this time of year when we all need a little "comfort food" to wash away all the colds and other illness' we bring home or our kids bring home, potato soup will comfort like no other.

This isn't the potato soup recipe that my mom always made when we were little (still waiting to get that copy from her)....but here's a great Creamy Potato Soup recipe you will enjoy by Jason Hill from Chef Tips.

Here's what you will need from the grocery store before you get started:

2 Cups of Shredded Smoke Gouda
1 tbsp Dried Basil
4 Tbsp Butter
2 chopped Carrots
2 Chopped Celery Stalks
1 cup Chopped Onion
2 cups Heavy Cream
6 Cups Chicken Stock
6 Red Potatoes

He also adds a little Cracked Black Pepper on top of the soup at the end, but I'm allergic to that - so I'd say that's optional!

To find out how to put it all together - check out this video by Chef Tips. To Find more recipes by Jason Hill - check out his website - Cooking Sessions with chef Jason Hill. So Yummy!!!

Have a great comforting Wednesday! Soups up! - kg

This 'n' That

It's time for my This 'n' That picks for the week....enjoy!

Have a great day. I'm off to clean my house so we have a warm and inviting place for the baby Jesus to rest. Otherwise there will be no room in this Inn on Christmas day! See you tomorrow for a yummy warm and inviting soup! -kg

Busy Monday: Starting a Blog Part 2

OK - so now you have your blog. Before you begin posting anything, be sure to add some of the features you like that you've seen from other blogs. I love having 3 columns. My blog template is the Minima Lefty Stretch and then I changed the HTML to add a 3rd column. There are quite a few tutorials out there to do this (here's the one I used) - but please FIRST make sure you: 1) download and save your current template. If you mess up - you won't be crying all night about it!, and 2) make sure the person has given you step by step (if not a video) on how to do it, so you don't skip anything. If you make a change, please "preview" the changes first - before you accept them!

If you want a really different, unique, cute, shabby background, check these out...they also offer tutorials on adding the backgrounds, as well as many buttons, labels, and cool stuff like that!!!

Cutest Blog on the Block - and here's their Blog...2 Mom's Talk!
Shabby Blogs
Simply Fabulous Blogger Tutorials

If you want to check out a list of 25 Blogger Widgets that you can add to your blog - check out this post on Mashable.

So that should keep you busy for a while. And if you haven't seen my blog before today - you may have missed this post...with some great freebies to add to your site for tracking your site traffic and such...and other ways to boost your traffic.

Have a great Monday even though it's almost over. I'm thinking next year - I'll either have to have all of my December posts done in November and all of my November posts done in October...or I'll have to take the whole month of December off!? - kg

Seller Saturday: Pop Up Card Making

Today's Seller Saturday story is the kind of story I've been waiting to post here on my blog....

Her name is Melia and her shop on etsy is PopUpCardMaking. I have loved her kirigami work since I found her a long time ago but forgot to save her as a favorite. When I saw a recent new listing, I was so excited and contacted her to do this feature. She was so thoughtful, that she sent me a pop up crane to try out for myself. I can't believe how easy it is! My girls were so excited and now want every animal in her shop! Here's more about Melia and her PopUpCardMaking shop...

1. If you could be a crayon, what color would you be? I would be a tangerine crayon because it looks like candy, I remember trying to eat them when I was little.
2. Do you have a special talent? My special talent is that I can shift my eyes left and right really fast. It freaks everyone out.
3. Which season do you love the most? I love the spring when things are coming back to life and everything smells so good.
4. What made you want to open up your etsy shop? My father always made Kirigami for my brother and I growing up. I told him that people would love to learn how to do this, but he didn't believe me. So I helped him make a few patterns and I set up an Etsy shop. Within a few hours, people were buying them. He was so tickled. And it grew from there.

Please visit Melia's shop today. You can make these cards yourself because it really is so easy!!! And you can also visit her website for more information and to watch some demo videos. Have a great weekend. I'm off to get better. I'm still fighting this virus that is traveling through my family (which is why I missed the Thursday & Friday post I was working on). Yucky yuck! -kg

Edible Wednesday: Gingerbread House Part 1

I'm off to a late start today. My daughter and I have been sick for the last few days, but on Saturday when I couldn't do much, I at least sat at my computer and got my Monday & Tuesday post ready and scheduled. That felt great. Yesterday when I started to feel a little better, I was busy cleaning house and unable to get going on today's post. But no worries - I've got it all under control!
Today I am sharing with you all the Gingerbread House Template my daughter's and I will be using to make our village this afternoon. If you haven't made one yet - this is for you too! Because blogspot won't let me upload a PDF file - I have inserted this as a JPEG. It will print nicely on an 8 1/2 x 11 - just check before you click print! It will be a small size Gingerbread house - so if you have a few kids, you'll have a village of gingerbread houses and not just one mansion! This is the recipe I plan on using from epicurious.com since I was not able to find the box gingerbread mix this year at my grocery store! They have all the instructions too - for mixing and baking after cutting out your pieces.

Oh - I can just smell it now....I'll post some more pictures later too of our house in progress...Tune in Friday for the decoration celebration, and have a great Wednesday!

This 'n' That

Here's the newest This 'n' That...I wouldn't mind finding these things under my Christmas tree next week! What do you think? Aren't they purdy cute???



Have a great Tuesday! And - honey - if you're reading this today - hurry up and order already to get the shipment on time for Christmas!!!

Busy Monday: Starting a Blog Part 1

As you can see from my archive list, I signed up to start blogging in January of this year. But as you can also see from my archive list, I didn't start really blogging until September! I really wasn't sure what to blog about, I didn't have my product up and running anywhere to purchase or promote and I wasn't sure I'd have anything interesting to say!

As soon as I got my Etsy shop up in September, I started to hear "the" buzz that blogging was a great way to promote your shop. But I didn't really want a blog that was all..."hey everyone , look at me"!
So where do you start? First you have to decide which free blogging service you want to sign up with. There are pros and cons to each, so please do your research. Here's a few to check out:

Blogger (aka blogspot)
Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com
Live Journal

Not so free blogging: fees
Typepad - you can start blogging with a free trial, but it can cost between $8.95 a month for the minimums to $89.95 a month for a Business Pro account.

If you want to blog and get paid to blog - check out this list of sites...from Hongkiat.com.

After you've checked out those blogs, and you've signed up, come back here next week for more information about changing the look of your blog and personalizing it to really represent you!

See you tomorrow for a little bit of This 'n' That! Happy reading! -kg

Calm after the Storm Treasury

Hey everyone - before leaving for my big to do Blood Drive - and with the help of my sister that entered all my items in - I got this treasury....and guess what - it made the front page of Etsy!!! If you didn't get a chance to see it on the front page - check out craftcult's archives...click on the picture! When you get to the other site - you can then click on the links for each item....YEAH!!!

Check it out when you get a chance - and drop me a comment! Love these colors together! -kg

'Tis the Season....

So it's monday night and I never had time to post my Busy Monday post - because I was too busy.

Today: I shipped out orders today (yeah!!!) and a bunny for the facebook fan giveaway (yeah!!!) and a christmas owl to my dear friend (yeah!!!)! Along with all that I went to karate, then the grocery store, to the post office twice, changed my little girls bed sheets (after making them dinner and giving them a bath)...and then discovered we had a can of frozen orange juice down in our basement in a bag with some jars and cans for our food storage that needed to be put away...only the frozen orange juice wasn't supposed to be there. Slowly but surely it has leaked out everywhere, creating a nasty mess I now have to go clean up.

So instead of sitting here, and trying to catch up, I am going to go clean, and then finish some sachets while hanging out with my hubby and resume my normal schedule next week. With Christmas coming quickly - I have presents for my own family I need to start and finish!

Wednesday I will be helping out at an American Red Cross Blood Drive at my church and anticipate that being all day! But I am happy to serve and for such a great cause. So I hope you all have a great week, and will feel free to browse my blog for some other really great posts!!! See you next Monday!

Kerry

Stayed up tooooo Late

So today is not Seller Saturday. I was up really late last night posting my Balsam Fir Sachet stack and ichatting with my twin..and photographing my cute little owl friend. This owl ornament was a special request from my friend Sharlene....she wanted an owl ornament with balsam fir. I'm not into using muslin for prototypes...so this is my first one. I may make a few adjustments in the tutorial, but I'm pretty sure, it will be 95% alike!

I'm sharing the owl today - because I wanted to let you know I'll be writing up a tutorial for this owl in the coming weeks! How exciting?!! This will be my first tutorial of many - and I would love to know what other kinds of things you'd like to learn to sew. What other tutorials would you like to see here on my blog? Please post below to share your ideas. It may not have to be a sewing project, but fabric related would be great, as I have much fabric I need to destash before I can buy more!!

Have a great saturday. I'm going to get our shoes put out for the Feast of St. Nick, and then I'm going to rest my aching head. -kg

Giddy-Up Friday: Holiday Online Games

Every year, there are some sites I just have to visit with my girls. And then there are some newbies that just pop out of nowhere and go totally viral!....here's just a few to occupy your kids....or yourselves! Whatever you do - give yourselves a time limit - there's lots of fun here!

Decorate your very own Gingerbread Cookie - you can pick a boy, girl or even a tree.
NorthPole has Elf Pal Academy and so many other fun places to visit. You can even allow your child to send a letter or postcard to Santa and check back for a return response? I haven't done this myself - but it sounds cute! You can also check the weather at the Weather Station!
And when you're done there...
Head to Norad to track Santa in his travels! Every year - I still love to do this! They even have a Norad facebook fan page! They are currently trying to get to 20,000 fans before the week ends...help them out! Fan KidGiddy too while you're there! : )
Have you Elf'd Yourself? I forgot last year...but the year before my girls were hysterically laughing everytime I played it for them. After you Elf Yourself, you can send a link to all of your friends and family! I stopped writing this post just to do it again....if you'd like to see my cute family in action - check this out! (it's also on my side bar for a little while! so FUNNY!!!! They've got the classic Christmas jig, and 4 other options, hip-hop, country, disco dances and then the singing!

I hope you all have a blast this weekend and some great giggles! Get some running around done in between sites! (so you won't become a 'puter potato!).

If you or your child(ren) enjoy this post - please leave a comment - I'd love to know! And I'd love for you to share a link back or my blog button...on your blog, facebook or twitters! Happy Friday! - kg

Edible Wednesday: Lion House Dinner Rolls

Have you EVER smelled the sweetness of fresh bread rolls baking in your oven? It's pure heaven! Today I bring to you a recipe from one of the best Bakery/Restaurants in the states...Utah that is. I was out visiting family during the summer of 2008 and had an opportunity to eat at the Lion House Restaurant. The rolls topped the charts. I recently got an email with the exact recipe - so I share it with you for today's Edible Wednesday.

Lion House Dinner Rolls

• 2 cups warm water (110 to 115° F)
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
  
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
  
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
  
• 1 egg
  
• 5 to 5 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or bread flour
  
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Since I don't want to infringe on any copyrights...I'm only listing the ingredients. For the directions and a mouth watering image - please check out this link for the remaining info and MORE Lion House Recipes - FOR FREE! And check out this video to see how to cut and prep them for baking! Get the butter, jam, honey, what ever floats your boat - but get 'em while they're hot!

Have a great Wednesday! - kg

This 'n' That

It's time for a little this 'n' that....here's some great items from things I've found recently on Etsy....or should I say, some things that found me?....



As usual...these pictures are copyrighted and owned by the respective shops from whence they came...so please don't copy them! You should be able to click on the pictures - to be taken directly to that shop...thanks!